Buffing tool



J. L. JONES BUFFING TOOL Filed April 19, 1933 Sept. 10, 1935.-

Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES ATE omer

BUFFING 'rooL Application April 19, 1933, Serial No. 666,841

4 Claims.

This invention relates to bufling tools and is herein disclosed asembodied in a bufling tool of the Naumkeag type. Buffing tools of thistype consist of a rotary tool body carrying a disk of abrasive materialand they are used extensively in buing shoe bottoms. It has beencustomary, when high grade work is desired, to provide a yieldable padfor backing the abrasive disk and to distend the pad by air pressure.Such air-inflated tools are particularly useful in bufng the shankportions of shoes, which portions are frequently curved in such a manneras to render them difficult of .access by ordinary buing tools.Air-inated tools, moreover, render it possible to obtain a soft, velvetyfinish which is superior to that resulting from the use of other typesof tools.

An object of the present invention is to provide a buiing tool of theNaumkeag type having the desirable characteristics of an air-iniiatedtool and which may readily be applied to machines not equipped for airpressure.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, there is provided asleeve adapted at one end to t over a rotary spindle and having securedto it a screw for threadedly engaging the spindle, the sleeve havingattached to its other end a tool body provided with a yieldabledistendable pad for backing an abrasive cover, in combination with meansfor yieldably distending the pad. This construction results in aself-contained tool which may readily be attached to and detached froman ordinary spindle. The pad of the illustrated tool consists of a diskof felt reinforced by a disk of leather which is relatively thick at itscentral portion, and which tapers to a relatively thin margin. Such apad, when distended by spring pressure, has the desirablecharacteristics of an airinated tool. It is convenient also to provide aplunger for transmitting the thrust of the spring to the distendablepad.

For a more complete understanding of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, which showsthe improved bufling tool in longitudinal section.

'I'he improved tool is shown as attached to a shaft I0 having atruste-conical reduced end portion I2 in which is formed a threadedopening I4. Shafts of this type are very common in shoe repairingmachines and are used for supporting various tools such, for example, asedge trimming tools which are mounted on the reduced portion I2 and areclamped there by means of a screw having threaded engagement with theopening I4. The shaft I0, as illustrated, constitutes an ordinary edgetrimming tool spindle. The supporting structure of applicants improvedbufng tool consists of a sleeve I6 having a knurled portion I8 adjacentto one of its ends and having secured within it by 5 means of a setscrew 20, a block 22. The block 22 has formed in it a tapered opening tot the reduced end portion I2 of the spindle4 I0. Soldered to the block22 is the head 24 of a screw 25. The screw 26 is thus, through the block22, immovl0 ably secured to the sleeve I6. -The screw 26 eX- tendsaxially through the tapered opening of the block 22 and by reason ofthis arrangement the sleeve I6 may readily be attached to the spindle I0by turning the knurled portion I8, thus threading 15"' the screw 26 intothe opening I4. The sleeve I6 adjacent to its opposite end is internallythreaded to receive a threaded shank 28 of a tool body having at itsouter end a flange 343. A clamping disk 32 having a raised annular rim34 is interposed be- 20 tween the ange 39 and the end of the sleeve I 6so that, as the sleeve I6 is threaded upon the shank 28, the clampingdisk 32 will be brought into clamping relation to the iiange 3i?. Anabrasive disk 36 which is preferably molded and which 25 may have tabsformed in its marginal portion 35 is clamped between the flange 36 andthe rim 34 with the marginal portion of the abrading disk 36 turned backover the inner face of the flange 30. Within the abrasive disk sa is ayieidabie distend- 30 able pad consisting of a felt disk 38 whichdirectly supports the abrasive cover 36 against the pressure of the workand which has cemented to its inner face a leather disk lili which isrelatively thick adjacent to its center portion and tapers to 35relative thinness adjacent to its periphery. The tool body is bored toreceive a plunger 42 having a flange 44, the outer face of which isconvex for bearing against the leather disk 4E). The center of theleather disk Ml has formed in it an opening to 40 receive an extension46 of the plunger l2 whereby the pad may be centered relatively to theplunger and to the tool body. The length of the extension 46 is lessthan the thickness of the central portion of the leather disk 36 toavoid any 45 possibility of the end of the extension 46 bearing directlyagainst the felt disk 38. The thrust of the plunger 42 is thustransmitted to the leather disk 40 through the flange 44 at a localitywhich is substantially central with relation to the pad. 50 A slot 48,formed in the plunger ft2, is engaged by a screw 50 threaded into thetool body 28, thereby preventing undesired rotation of the plunger 42while permitting axial or lengthwise sliding movement of the plungerrelatively to the tool body. 55

Interposed between the screw-head 24 and a shoulder 52 formed on theplunger 42 is a coil compression spring 54. The screw head 24, togetherwith the block 22, thus serves as an abutment for the spring 54.

When it is desired to replace the abrasive cover 36 by a fresh abrasivecover, the sleeve IG is unscrewed from the spindle IE). The operator,then grasping the working portion of the tool, partly unscrews the toolbody 28 from the sleeve I6. The clamping pressure of the rim 34 is thusrelieved and the old abrasive cover is readily removed. The operatorthen may apply a new abrasive cover merely by reversing theabove-described operation, but ordinarily he will resort to acover-applying tool of the type disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 1,197,439 granted September 5, 1916, upon the application ofE. F. Hodgkins. This cover-applying tool consists essentially of asupport for the working face of the abrading tool and a plurality ofwiping plates which engage the up-turned tabbed marginal portion of theabrasive cover and wipe it over the ange 3D of the tool body. With thetool body thus held in the applying device by the wiping plates, theoperator now takes the sleeve I6 and screws it upon the threaded shank28 of the tool body. This serves not only to clamp the marginal portionof the abrasive cover against the inner face of the flange 3@ but itserves also to compress the spring 54. The assembled tool may now bereleased from the coverapplying device and may be attached to thespindle Il) in the manner already indicated. It will be noted that thepad comprising the disks 38 and 40 is maintained in working positionupon the tool body by the tension of the abrasive cover 36, beingcentered by the extension 4S of the plunger. The assembled tool is thusself-contained, having no loose parts which could be lost in shipment orstorage, and it is ready for immediate attachment to a very common typeof machine spindle. The effect of the spring pressure being transmittedinto the pad through the leather disk 40, and particularly by reason ofthe fact that the leather disk 4B tapers to a relatively thin margin,imparts to the tool the soft yielding resilient characteristics of anair-innated tool.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A buinng tool comprising a sleeve adapted at one end to t over arotary spindle, a screw within said sleeve and rigidly and permanentlysecured to said sleeve in axial relation thereto for threaded engagementwith an opening in the rotary spindle whereby the sleeve and screw arerotatable relatively to the spindle as a unit, a tool body attached tothe opposite end of said sleeve and provided with a yieldable,distendable pad for backing an abrasive cover, and means for yieldablydistending said pad.

2. A buffing tool comprising a sleeve adapted at one end to t over arotary spindle, an abutment within said sleeve and secured thereto, ascrew extending axially from said abutment for threaded engagement withan opening in the rotary spindle, a tool body attached to the oppositeend of said sleeve and provided with a yieldable distendable pad forbacking an abrasive cover, a plunger guided for axial movement in saidtool body and arranged to exert a thrust against said pad, and acompression spring interposed between said plunger and said abutment andcausing the plunger to distend the pad.

3. A bufhng tool comprising a sleeve adapted at one end for attachmentto a rotary spindle and internally threaded at its opposite end, a toolbody having a shank threaded for engagement with said opposite end ofsaid sleeve, a yieldable distendable pad covering the working face ofsaid tool body for backing an abrasive cover, a compression springwithin said tool body for distending said pad, said sleeve having anabutment for one end of said compression spring, and a clamping diskloosely surrounding the shank of said tool body for clamping themarginal portion of an abrasive cover against the rear face of said toolbody, said clamping collar being in abutting engagement with thethreaded end of said sleeve, whereby the turning of the sleeverelatively to the tool body serves to compress the spring and also tocause the clamping disk to secure the abrasive cover to the tool body.

4. A bufng tool comprising a tool body adapted for attachment to arotary spindle, a pad consisting of a disk of felt having secured uponone of its faces a disk of leather, the exposed face of the felt servingto afford backing to an abrasive cover, and means for applying localizedpressure at substantially the center of said pad to distend the pad, theleather disk being relatively thick adjacent to its center and taperingto a relatively thin edge, whereby the pressure applied at the center ofthe pad is distributed in such a manner as to produce an effect similarto that of an air-inflated pad.

JOHN L. JONES.

